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Venom is kind of a hit! The symbiote superhero film broke the October box office record, pulling in a respectable $80 million. Not bad, considering the headache this film has been to get to the theaters. But credit where credit is due, this film might have legs. I thought it was pretty good.

Movie Rating: 6/10 – Pretty Good.

Obviously, I’d prefer if Venom was given over to Marvel Studios and got to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel can do no wrong. Sony Pictures can definitely do wrong. I had low expectations for the film, and had long ago severed any hope I had for total comic book accuracy. With that in mind, I had an OK time and can legitimately say I enjoyed the film. It’s not a good movie, with a ton of flaws, but it was an ultimately watchable Venom movie. Good for them!

Like this:

Am I the only person who’s a little confused that DC Comics seems to be rushing into a movie about the Suicide Squad for no good reason? Don’t get me wrong, the concept has legs. The Suicide Squad has so far made for a great episode of Justice League Unlimited and an OK episode of Arrow. And the basic concept is pretty solid too: super-villains forced to go on dangerous missions for the government. But Suicide Squad is hardly a big name, and they don’t yet even know if Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is going to succeed.

Why is Suicide Squad, of all possible franchises, the next one to hit theaters?

Whatever the plan is, Variety is reporting that DC has nailed down the cast. One part of the plan is clearly to use big name actors to bring in the audience.

Jared Leto as the Joker

Will Smith as Deadshot

Tom Hardy as Rick Flagg

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Jai Courtney as Boomerang

Cara Delevingne as Enchantress

The film will be directed by David Ayer, and will begin shooting in April for a planned Aug. 5, 2016 release date.

That’s definitely a pretty solid list of actors. I think they’ll all do fine in those roles. Having both the Joker and Harley Quinn in this movie is a strong move. Everybody is pretty familiar with both characters, and there’s probably no other way they could make a solo film starring the Joker. So let the Clown Prince of Crime take center stage in Suicide Squad. I bet audiences will eat that up. And it’ll be neat to see the character interact with people who aren’t Batman. I’m sure Jared Leto will bring the same unexpected, manic energy as Heath Ledger did.

Will Smith as Deadshot should be pretty awesome. I can see him being a fan favorite, as Deadshot usually is, and Smith is pretty popular too, from what I understand. Leto and Smith should carry this film easily, with the Joker’s zany madness offset by Deadshot’s brutal pragmatism.

I’m assuming Boomerang is just short for Captain Boomerang (who’s also appearing on both Arrow and The Flash this week), and Enchantress is a really weird choice. Of all the lady bad guys they could have chosen, why Enchantress, someone nobody has heard of? She’s a magical character, and that brings a lot to the table, but they could have had so much more fun if they’d picked, say, Poison Ivy. Everybody knows Poison Ivy, and it would give you a pretty amazing love triangle with Harley and Joker.

But I’m sure Warner Bros. knows what they’re doing. I’m sure they think they have a solid script in place, and this will make one heck of a fun Ocean’s 11-style masterpiece. We shall see. I’m going to be cautiously optimistic, but I’m still just not sure why they’re going with the Suicide Squad. Maybe they know something we don’t.